To the delight of comedy nerds the world over, "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp" -- the eight-episode revival of the 2001 cult favorite starring Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler and Elizabeth Banks -- premiered Friday on Netflix.

When "Wet Hot American Summer" was released in theaters in July of 2001, the oddball comedy brought in just $295,000 at the box office — barely enough to buy a house in the suburbs, much less recoup its meager $1.8-million budget.

Were you to imagine a follow-up to “Wet Hot American Summer,” David Wain and Michael Showalter's 2001 absurdist parody of an 1980s summer camp movie, it likely would not be as a prequel in which all the members of the main cast, now 14 years older, return to play their old characters in a story...